IL Resident ORM, FGLI -- WAMC/School List Help!

[tazzle_razzle6334]

Hello all! Looking for help building my school list and wondering what my chances may be with my current stats. Thank you in advance

• cGPA: 3.98
• sGPA: 4.0
• MCAT: 511 (127/128/127/129)
• IL resident & IL university graduate (‘24)
• ORM (South Asian), female, first generation, low-income
  • FAP recipient, Pell grant recipient
• Super interested in primary care
• Clinical experience:
  • Kinda lacking here. 2 years, 170 hours volunteering at a free health clinic with majority Spanish and Polish-speaking patients; got a strong LoR from here.
    • Projected in upcoming year: 50 hours
  • Starting a volunteer position with a health organization aimed to deliver care for migrants from South America. Currently 0 hours, not listing on my primary app but may discuss in secondaries?
• Research experience:
  • 1. 3 years, ~400 hours at a lab looking at addiction/substance use disorders, a lot of clinical experience gained here (conducted blood draws, EKG, health screenings); 1 poster presentation; strong LoR from here.
    • Projected in upcoming year: 150 hours
  • 2. Just started couple weeks ago with doctor I shadowed, looking at screening for a particular disorder within primary care settings. ~20 hours. Getting a LoR from this doctor, since I shadowed her and then she invited me to join the study.
    • Projected in upcoming year: 150 hours
• Shadowing
  • Shadowed at a couple of federally qualified low-income health clinics, primary-care focused mainly, one pediatric clinic, and one internal medicine resident.
  • ~38 hours in total, projected 15 more hours.
• Non-clinical volunteering:
  • Volunteer tutor for underserved public school kids: 150 hours
    • Projected: 50 hours
  • Volunteer tutor for underserved high-school girls: 50 hours
  • Volunteer meal distributor for unhoused populations: 140 hours
    • Projected: 100 hours
  • Animal shelter: 600 hours (2018-2024)
    • Projected: 200 hours
    • Thinking about cutting these hours down because it seems excessive haha.
• Extracurriculars:
  • Worked a retail job & food service job to support myself and family since I was a teen: ~1500 hours? idk
    • Projected: 500 hours
  • Hobby: Pottery, ceramics (might not include in my app!)
• Awards: (might not include in my app?)
  • Phi Beta Kappa
  • Departmental Distinction for my major
  • Biology Award for Highest Performance
    • LoR from biology professor.

School List: (applying to 25 MD because of FAP, unsure about DO)

• UIC (dream school -- do I have a solid chance?)
• Loyola
• RUSH (is it worth it? Is my volunteering enough?)
• Rosalind Franklin
• Iowa
• Saint Louis
• Tulane
• Wayne State
• Albany
• Medical College of Wisconsin
• Drexel
• Midwestern Osteopathic
• Des Moines Osteopathic

What to add, any to delete?

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[Faha]

Remove Loyola and Rush since they are looking for applicants with far more clinical and non clinical hours than you have.
I suggest these schools with your stats:
UIC
Rosalind Franklin
Medical College Wisconsin
Western Michigan
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
TCU
Belmont
NOVA MD
Wake Forest
Eastern Virginia
Virginia Commonwealth
George Washington
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Penn State
Hackensack
Albany
New York Medical College
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Alice Walton (when it opens)
Roseman (when it opens)
I suggest these DO schools:
CCOM
DMU-COM
MU-COM
KCU-COM
ATSU-KCOM
AZCOM
TUNCOM
CUSOM
NYITCOM
PCOM
Touro-NY

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Welcome to the forums.

Good job. I would be shocked if UIC didn't try to interview you. As for Rush and Loyola, you may still be a little low on community volunteering (170 free clinic, 140 food distribution; anything else?).

Keep boosting your clinical exposure. You may be near the effective "cutoff" (not one set by schools, but comparing against other applicants).

 

[tazzle_razzle6334]

Remove Loyola and Rush since they are looking for applicants with far more clinical and non clinical hours than you have.
I suggest these schools with your stats:
UIC
Rosalind Franklin
Medical College Wisconsin
Western Michigan
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
TCU
Belmont
NOVA MD
Wake Forest
Eastern Virginia
Virginia Commonwealth
George Washington
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Penn State
Hackensack
Albany
New York Medical College
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Alice Walton (when it opens)
Roseman (when it opens)
I suggest these DO schools:
CCOM
DMU-COM
MU-COM
KCU-COM
ATSU-KCOM
AZCOM
TUNCOM
CUSOM
NYITCOM
PCOM
Touro-NY

Thank you! Anxious to apply to DO schools because of $$$ but I guess I’ll have to bite the bullet. Adding these now, thanks!!

 

[tazzle_razzle6334]

Welcome to the forums.

Good job. I would be shocked if UIC didn't try to interview you. As for Rush and Loyola, you may still be a little low on community volunteering (170 free clinic, 140 food distribution; anything else?).

Keep boosting your clinical exposure. You may be near the effective "cutoff" (not one set by schools, but comparing against other applicants).

Thank you! UIC is definitely my dream school. I attended UI for undergrad, do research with them, and my LoR is from a UIC-affiliated physician, so I’m hoping that gives me some advantage, if any!

My other community volunteering comes from volunteering at a tutoring organization in Chicago, which focuses on serving students within under resourced Chicago public school elementary-aged children. I’m also starting a volunteer position with a migrant health organization and a lab technician role at the free health clinic, but these won’t be on my primary application.